John Boel’s DUI arrest is not unique among new anchors. Many of the writers who’ve commented on this site have expressed either empathy for Boel or hope that he loses his job. I found a similar situation in New Orleans that shows a station exhibited some compassion while dealing firmly with the matter.
See if this sounds familiar. Norman Robinson is one of the top anchors in the New Orleans market, 17 years in the chair at WDSU, and known as an agressive reporter and take-no-prisoners interviewer. He’d been in the middle of stories like Hurricane Katrina, and is known for an emotional reaction when he interviewed racist politician David Duke.
On a June Saturday, Robinson crashed his personal vehicle, got out of his car, and pissed on the ground. This occurred in sight of a police officer. He blew a .131 on a breathalyzer. So what did the station do?
First, Robinson took a leave of absence for just over a month. Then he returned to work, but went another month before going back on the air. That was in August. On the night he returned, he expressed his apology on the air. And now he seems to have put the episode behind him, and WDSU has salvaged the career of one of its stars.
WDSU, by the way, is a Hearst station, the same ownership group as WLKY. It looks like it’ll be awhile before we know if Boel can work his way back to the air.
For Robinson, it took two months.
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2 comments:
I like John Boel for all the hard work he has done for us here in Louisville. I hope he keeps his job or the news channel will have one less viewer.
John Boel will keep his job. I know this for a fact since he told me last night. He returned to work and made an apology on air. That same day WLKY 32 gave 4 layoffs, not one of them went to John. Looks like he is safe for now. Good luck to him, he is a good guy!
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